‘SNL’ star visits Central NY farm for new TV show ‘Dairy Diaries’

Former “Saturday Night Live” star Vanessa Bayer visited a Central New York dairy farm for a new TV series exploring the journey of milk from farm to fridge.

“Dairy Diaries” is a five-episode documentary series on the Roku Channel featuring Beck Farms, a fourth-generation dairy farm in the Tompkins County village of Freeville. Bayer hosts the show, getting first-hand experience of what life is like on a farm.

“As someone who consumes more dairy, and specifically cheese, than I’d like to admit, I wanted to learn about how milk gets from the farm to the store,” Bayer said in a statement. “I was particularly interested to hear how the industry is working to become more sustainable because obviously, we all gotta get moo-ving in that department! While I didn’t get as much free ice cream as I had hoped, I learned a lot, and I think the audience will as well.”

At Beck Farms, located about 10 miles outside of Ithaca, owner Tyler Beck showcases closed-loop circular processes like using cows’ manure to grow their feed on-farm, reducing carbon emissions and helping with sustainability. According to the American Dairy Association, the environmental impact of producing a gallon of milk has shrunk significantly, requiring 30% less water, 21% less land, and a 19% smaller carbon footprint than it did in 2007.

“We loved sharing our farm with Vanessa and are excited to share it with the world,” Beck said. “We hope Dairy Diaries shows the great pride we take in our responsibility to nourish families with delicious dairy foods. So while it may seem odd to some, we wouldn’t give up the 3:30 a.m. wake-ups for anything.”

In a trailer for the series, Tyler’s brother Austin Beck said he was “a little nervous” to have Bayer visit because she doesn’t have any farming experience. In the first episode, she cringes at the idea of working with manure and learns how to milk a cow.

“Definitely like a city mouse plopped right in the middle of the country,” Austin said.

According to Adweek, Beck Farms was chosen after an extensive interview process with different farms that included finding one with the capacity to support a multi-day production. Miranda Abney, senior director of marketing at the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), said the Becks were a little thrown off by some of Bayer’s questions during filming, but those moments made for good comedy.

Bayer is an Emmy-nominated actress and comedian who was a cast member on “SNL” from 2010 to 2017. Her credits also include “Trainwreck,” “I Love That for You,” “Will & Grace,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “The Simpsons,” “Portlandia,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” and “DC League of Super-Pets.”

Others participating in the series include Dr. Joe McFadden, Associate Professor of Dairy Cattle Biology at Cornell University, and Dr. Laura Brown, a Cortland-based veterinarian. According to the ADA, McFadden will detail his research to reduce methane emissions by including seaweed in cows’ diets, and Brown will show how she keeps cows and calves healthy with weekly visits to Beck Farms.

“Dairy Diaries,” brought to viewers by U.S. dairy farmers, processors and importers, is available to stream for free on a Roku device, the Roku mobile app, therokuchannel.com, plus Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV and Google TV. The series premiered April 22 and is currently streaming all five episodes.